Cloudflare CEO Explains How FBI Gag Orders Impacted Business

"The staffer dismissed my concerns and expressed that Cloudflare’s position on NSLs was a product of needless worrying, speculation, and misinformation. The staffer noted it would be impossible for an NSL to issue against Cloudflare, since the services our company provides expressly did not fall within the jurisdiction of the NSL statute. The staffer went so far as to open a copy of the U.S. Code and read from the statutory language to make her point. Because of the gag order, I had to sit in silence, implicitly confirming the point in the mind of the staffer. At the time, I knew for a certainty that the FBI’s interpretation of the statute diverged from hers (and presumably that of her boss)."